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Household debt

This Month

Bruce Chapman says HECS debt should not affect graduates’ ability to buy a house.

HECS architect wants student debt ignored when assessing home loans

Bruce Chapman, who created the income-contingent loan system for students, has hit out at the political fiddling the system has faced.

  • Julie Hare

November

Victoria now has the highest rate of home-loan arrears across all Australian states, taking over from Western Australia.

Victorian mortgage arrears top other states

Fresh data from ratings agency S&P shows Victoria has the highest rate of home-loan arrears of any Australian states, overtaking Western Australia.

  • Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin

These three scenarios show how HECS debt hits your borrowing capacity

Instead of paying his student loan down faster with extra repayments, this 26-year-old chose to divert his savings to build a house deposit. It paid off.

  • Updated
  • Bianca Hartge-Hazelman and Lucy Dean
The Greens have upped the ante on Labor, promising to cancel all student debt.

Greens plan to cancel student debt unfair to poor, says HECS architect

In what looks like an act of one-upmanship, the Greens will promise to cancel all student debt, not just 20 per cent like Labor. Experts say the idea stinks.

  • Julie Hare
Labor’s student debt reduction plan benefits male students more than females.

$16b uni student debt fix helps men more than women

Those paying tertiary fees will have to wait until at least 2027 for the overhaul, as analysis shows it will assist male graduates erase their liability sooner.

  • Julie Hare
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October

There is good debt, and bad debt.

How to manage good, bad and dreadful debt

Dreadful debt destroys wealth, and credit cards are top of the list.

  • Michael Hutton

September

Penny Locaso says undertaking a PhD in psychology will cost her nothing while an honours year comes with a $30,000 price tag.

$30k for honours degree makes switching careers an expensive choice

Older generations are being lumbered with more student debt and for longer as students try to negotiate an irrational and unfair system.

  • Julie Hare

July

Cash Converters said retail store revenue increased by 11 per cent in 2024 after 600,000 transactions took place in its pawn shops.

Booming Cash Converters revenues point to squeeze on the poor

The ASX-listed pawnbroker told investors the increase was partly tied to “mainstream finance” being “more difficult to access” for many of its customers.

  • James Eyers
North Richmond in Sydney’s west. The volume of refinancing has begun to slow, likely pushing delinquency rates lower.

Mortgage cliff turns into ‘a wave’ that is already subsiding

The tailing off of refinancing is fuelling a rosier outlook for housing delinquencies as borrowers come to terms with higher-for-longer interest rates.

  • Lucas Baird
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will announce the overhaul on Monday.

Labor reveals personal bankruptcy overhaul

The threshold for involuntary bankruptcy will rise to $20,000 and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will also launch consultations for a mini-bankruptcy regime.

  • Ronald Mizen
To cut the cost of your “wants”, you’ll need to come up with some sacrifices.

How the 50/30/20 budgeting hack can unlock your finances

This straightforward strategy suggests dividing your income into three buckets: needs, wants and financial goals.

  • Holly Thomas

May

ASIC chairman Joe Longo: “It’s time for meaningful improvement.”

Lenders creating ‘unnecessary barriers’ for struggling customers: ASIC

With living costs high, ASIC chairman Joe Longo has issued a stern report on bank hardship policies. ABA chief Anna Bligh says processes are being improved.

  • James Eyers
Rising interest rates and power prices mean Adam and Erin Foster’s dream of buying their first home keeps “slipping through the fingers”.

$300 off every household’s power bill in cost-of-living cash splash

In addition to a tax cut from July 1, every household will receive an electricity bill discount as part of a $7.8 billion cost-of-living package.

  • Ronald Mizen and Maxim Shanahan
TGE boss Christine Holgate has navigated Team Global Express’ recovery, backed by Allegro Funds.

CommBank to refi PE-backed logistics giant; Daimler, IFM tip into debt

The new loan comes four years after Allegro Funds, led by deal maker Adrian Loader, paid less than $10 million to acquire Team Global Express.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

April

The dominance of variable rate mortgages and high levels of household debt means Australian consumers are highly sensitive to interest rates, the IMF has found.

Australian households are world-leaders in interest rate pain: IMF

Variable-rate mortgages and high household debt make Australian consumers highly sensitive to interest rates, the IMF says, but house prices are still rising.

  • Michael Read and John Kehoe
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The major banks have been lifting interest rates and reducing interest free days on popular credit cards.

CBA joins banks quietly cutting interest-free days on credit cards

The big banks have all been slowly lifting their rates, while Commonwealth and Westpac have also increased annual fees.

  • James Eyers

February

Australian mortgage arrears rose during the fourth quarter and this will continue amid high-interest rates and rising unemployment, said S&P Global Ratings.

WA borrowers struggling the most with home loan repayments: S&P

S&P Global Ratings says mortgagees in the West are 20pc more likely to be behind on repayments.

  • James Eyers
Two Australian fund managers have recently allocated money to cat bonds, said US-based John DeCaro.

Fund managers eye up 20pc returns from hurricanes

Catastrophe bond portfolios ranked among the best performing funds last year as insurance companies paid hefty premiums to protect against disaster risks.

  • Cecile Lefort
Westpac CEO Peter King, says the economy will “remain resilient, supported by low unemployment and healthy corporate sector balance sheets.”

Westpac boss says RBA will be easing ‘within’ a year

Westpac stood back from aggressive mortgage market growth to protect its NIM over the past quarter, a similar strategy to its biggest rival, CBA.

  • James Eyers

January

Jaidyn Shelby, 20, dropped out of his degree after finding one semester had cost $15,000.

University degree dropouts reach record

Students completing their degree within six years hit an all-time low in 2022 as cost-of-living pressures and plentiful job opportunities pushed up dropout rates.

  • Julie Hare

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/household-debt-hor